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        Summer vacations, trains teeming with passengers and overcrowded railway stations prove to be the perfect situations for the notorious 'Biscuit Bandits.' These miscreants seem to be at work again but not as men in a group but as a hired family.

        The latest victims were 11 passengers travelling in two unreserved compartments of the Tata Nagar Express, they were found unconscious and were admitted to the Government Tirupathur Hospital.

        Citing this incident, a senior official of Railway Protection Force (RPF) said, 'don't get duped by persons who make their presence in the compartment with a family set-up. In few cases reported recently the biscuit bandits were found to be hiring women and children to act like a family to avoid suspicion.'

        The gang robs train passengers of their belongings and valuables after befriending them and offering cream-biscuits laced with sedatives. The number of recorded incidents was three in Chennai this year against 16 cases reported in 2006, according to Senior Security Officer, Southern Railways Easwara Rao.

        The children of 'Biscuit Bandits' are trained to befriend the young ones at the compartment during the course of the train journey. After the victims consume these biscuits, they fall unconscious and the criminals relieve them of their jewellery, luggage and other valuables before vanishing from the scene, he said.

        Those who fall prey to the gang's act wake up after 8 to 12 hours, often travelling beyond their destination, only to find their luggage and valuables stolen. In many cases, the police find it difficult to bring the miscreants to book as the incident would have taken place some eight hours ago and the train might have travelled several kms by then. 'Of late, the miscreants have started using other foodstuff like ice-cream, water, tender coconut, chocolate, mixture, banana and meal,'.

        The first case was reported in 1999 at Chennai Central Railway Station. What was initially thought of as an isolated incident was seen elsewhere in the country with the miscreants adopting a similar modus operandi. Their target is long-distance trains. Most of the arrested in such cases hailed from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

        A gang arrested a few months ago hailed from Bihar and confessed to committing the crime due to unemployment and poverty. The Jaipur-Chennai and Charminar, Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad-Chennai Express trains were the worst affected.

        'However awareness campaign have been conducted by the railway authorities by distributing pamphlets and pasting stickers. Even last week two film personalities were brought to highlight the safety precautions. We have installed CCTVs in the railway stations and everyday a staff is engaged in sending across safety precautions to be followed while travelling in train. This we have been doing it for the past one month, said another official.

        The RPF advise passengers to be cautious in dealing with strangers and inform the police of any suspicious elements.